SWITCHBACK DREAM (photo art) & QUITE SOMETHING (narrative dream poem) by Roswila

QUITE SOMETHING

so (I say to her) it was quite something
to have the fabulous rock concert upstaged,
if you will, by former President Clinton's
entrance, at least for me

you see I've met Clinton many times before
and he recognized me that night, even
through all the leaping frenzy of the fans,
(like yourself) so he and I chatted downstairs
in that carpeted dark wood lobby
(you remember, with all the potted palms
lining the walls, brushing at prints
of famous paintings?)

well, he said he was only half-joking
but he might not be able to find his way
home after the music's over, even though
it's only a comfortable walk through the
always intriguing Greenwich Village streets

that his sense of direction's never been all
that good, even his own father had told him
years back to live somewhere along
logically named and arranged streets

now (I ask you) how could I question
this former head of state, but of all places
to live then why'd he choose Greenwich Village
(I never could find my way around it,
no sense nor logic to it's wandering artistry)

but I suppose even ex-presidents make choices
at times that ignore sense as it rolls on the floor
behind them, holding its sides and laughing


[narrative poem on a dream of 10-25-13. I'm still having trouble with calling a lot of my recent writing poetry. Mostly what may qualify them as such is how they are laid out on the page, especially this one. So that's why I'm terming this one a narrative poem. I might give up on calling ones like this poetry at all except that they aren't prose, either, not really, IMHO. As to the dream itself: yes, another New York City dream. Greenwich Village is in downtown Manhattan, an historically rather artsy area that is truly a maze of little streets. I got lost there often enough, even when given walking instructions by someone. And I have met former President Clinton before in dreams and we have usually known each other previously. Photo art "Switchback Dream" (9-15-13) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to relate to any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

Also please note that a dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It is my attempt to get down dream imagery/action that grabs me and, as I write about it, elicits my conscious written association and response. Nor do I believe that one has to remember dreams in order for them to do their work. In my understanding, we are much more than our conscious selves.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- very brief comparison of dreamku and haiku: DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a short up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *

‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

THE CHALICE (photo) & IN A NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY (dream haibun) by Roswila

IN A NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY
(a dream haibun)

A young woman's voice lifts through the stale air in the over-crowded subway car. Sigh, I think hopelessly, another out of work parent begging for food or coming unwound altogether. But this shout out is a new sort of challenge to each of our protective reactions. "Write a haiku about right now," she proclaims, "and give it to me." Suddenly, 'ku after 'ku is flying toward her on pieces of paper like origami cranes. My own is the last to rise into the surprise filled air:

it happens again
a New Yorker reopens
a path to the heart

[haibun on a dream of 10-24-13. Just in case you're not familiar with the form, a haibun is a prose, often poetic paragraph capped by a haiku. It can also be a series of same. The ending haiku can either reiterate the prose or extend it in some way. I actually wrote this ending 'ku in my sleep. Though I should note it is probably more properly termed a senryu, which form is at times almost indistinguishable from haiku (at least to me). I'm not surprised I had an ersatz Buddhist dream as I've started reading a book with a Buddhist approach. It's also not surprising I dreamt about New York City. I've recently been thinking a lot about my 60 years of life there before moving here to CA. And I would say one of the biggest challenges to my adult sanity and serenity was traveling to/from work daily in the subways. "The more things change ..." No more subways but the challenges are always here. Photo "The Chalice" (4-27-11) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to relate to any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

Also please note that a dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It is my attempt to get down dream imagery/action that grabs me and, as I write about it, elicits my conscious written association and response. Nor do I believe that one has to remember dreams in order for them to do their work. In my understanding, we are much more than our conscious selves.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- very brief comparison of dreamku and haiku: DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a short up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *

‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

AT THE EDGE OF THE RABBIT HOLE (photo art) & TILT! (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

TILT!

here she is again, that old frenemy
it wouldn't be so annoying but as usual
she's driving the car, not leaving me
any choice of path or goal

I settle back as carefully as possible
into the lumpy and broken passenger seat
deciding to stay open to the ride
and where this is all going

just as the hum of the tires on the tarmac
begins to soothe my agitation
the nearly circus clown sized car
tilts way over onto its left side wheels,
the right wheels on the shoulder of the road

her reaction, well, nil, and I hesitate
to say anything as she'll just snap at me
as usual, saying "I know, I know, there you
go again stating the obvious"

but as I open my mouth to speak anyway
she turns off the highway saying we'd better
find a gas station, my concern now
how to find one that's safe and trustworthy
in this strange little countryside town

she pulls into the first one we come to
a sprawling spanking clean gas station
with repair service signs shining brightly
and workers in spotless white coveralls
standing around chatting

then we notice the large "CLOSED" sign
she doesn't even stop but drives on out
I find myself again hesitant to speak up
(we could've asked when they'll be opening)
but the habit of bowing to her control
of both driving and what I can or cannot say
runs too deep, and I hold silence
as we drive on at the same crazy tilt


[free verse poem on a dream of 10-23-13. An interesting and common occurrence in my dreams. Just when I feel one way consciously, a dream will say, nuh-uh! The opposite is going on at some important level. In this case, I'd begun to feel "in the driver's seat" of my waking life again, at least long enough to go down the road apiece. Also that I've been listening to my intuitions, to those less conscious aspects. Well, this dream says I've got quite a way to go. That poor car -- my life -- is tilted way over to the left, i.e. to the conscious side, at least in some important way. I think this is where a Tarot reading will help. I hasten to add, as I've said before I don't see balance as a static thing but dynamic. However, there are times we can get stuck out of balance in some way, as I hear this dream saying. I also had an association to the title "Tilt!" Pin ball players used to try to cheat by tilting the table. The path that took me down is too lengthy to go into here, but it was fruitful. Suffice it to say it had to do with the "I" being in unconscious collusion with "she." Photo art "At the Edge of the Rabbit Hole" (10-3-09) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to relate to any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

Also please note that a dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It is my attempt to get down dream imagery/action that grabs me and, as I write about it, elicits my conscious written association and response. Nor do I believe that one has to remember dreams in order for them to do their work. In my understanding, we are much more than our conscious selves.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- very brief comparison of dreamku and haiku: DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a short up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *

‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

PREMONITION OF WINTER (photo art) & LAST LIGHT (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

LAST LIGHT

a single lengthy
rose bush branch
growing from pale green
into feathery red
bobs in the hot sunlight
from atop the arbor:
a pole baited with spider webs
angling for the glimmerings
of summer's last light


[non-dream based, free verse poem written in November 2009; revised October 2013. Photo art "Premonition of Winter" (10-3-09) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to relate to any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

Also please note that a dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It is my attempt to get down dream imagery/action that grabs me and, as I write about it, elicits my conscious written association and response. Nor do I believe that one has to remember dreams in order for them to do their work. In my understanding, we are much more than our conscious selves.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- very brief comparison of dreamku and haiku: DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a short up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *

‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

DARK ANGEL (photo art) & JUDGMENT (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

JUDGMENT

my long estranged friend-cum-coworker
lambastes me for doing personal work
on my lunch break, "What a fine
how-do-you-do!" I say, further
retorting that she's got her family's
bills spread all over her desk right now
like wind blown fall leaves

next thing I know she's hovering over me
as I struggle to get a slew of mail
out of my box, the lock to which
I'd forgotten had been changed

I can only figure it's her intense
nosiness that's keeping her mouth locked
as surely as the box, being as anxious
to see what's come to me as I
and if history repeats, not to share
surprise or sorrow, or even relief
or edification, but to judge and mock,
or to ask questions that insinuate doubt
like an ever so fine and chilly fog

as I pull letters, bills, and one huge
squishy gift package at last from the box
I find her renewed nattering over my left
shoulder almost acceptable, like a dark
angel trumpeting brassy echoes
of my own capacity for judgment


[free verse poem on a dream of 10-20-13. As that image of a dark angel emerged in the writing process I immediately thought of the JUDGMENT card in the Tarot. Here it is in the Steampunk Tarot:

The most pointed aspect to this dream is another way of reading the Judgment card in the Tarot, in my opinion. (Here's a link to a recent post I made about the Judgment card on my Tarot blog. Be forewarned, it's rather lengthy.) Photo "Dark Angel" (4-27-11) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to relate to any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

Also please note that a dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It is my attempt to get down dream imagery/action that grabs me and, as I write about it, elicits my conscious written association and response. Nor do I believe that one has to remember dreams in order for them to do their work. In my understanding, we are much more than our conscious selves.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- very brief comparison of dreamku and haiku: DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a short up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *

‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

RAMBLING ON (photo art) & RED & BLUE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

RED & BLUE
(two dreams from one night)

I.

she lives in a huge sunny mall
her room simply a deep white nook
along one wall
I ask this small dark-haired woman
if there's any door to close
she shakes her head no
as if I've asked a puzzling
or obvious question
maybe it's her youth that makes
her so casual about issues
of safety and privacy
but then I notice her hospital bed
and medical paraphernalia
it amazes me that this seriously ill
lady-in-red lives by herself
she says she's up to a walk today
and that I can sit on her bed
'til she gets back if I'd like to
I watch her hunched red form
disappear awkwardly into
the crowd and bright lights
out in the mall
like a bird
no longer able to fly


II.

he approaches the pair of jazz musicians
asking if he can improvise with them
his mental handicap somehow telegraphed
by his posture and manner of speech
the color blue brightens not only his eyes
but various stickers and gew-gaws
on the instruments he carries
draped and clattering around him
like a one man band
a growing premonition
permeates the scene:
music imbues this large young man
with an intelligence
and balance all their own


[free verse poem on two dreams of 10-19-13. At one level I think these are addressing physical (I.) and emotional (II.) issues. I'd gone to sleep in a rather despairing mood and both dreams do seem to say (at least in part) "just keep on keepin' on." On the colors red and blue, no, I did not see them in the dream. I just knew as I was dreaming what the colors were. Photo art "Rambling On" (10-29-09) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to relate to any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

Also please note that a dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It is my attempt to get down dream imagery/action that grabs me and, as I write about it, elicits my conscious written association and response. Nor do I believe that one has to remember dreams in order for them to do their work. In my understanding, we are much more than our conscious selves.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- very brief comparison of dreamku and haiku: DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a short up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *

‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.